World Series Preview: Positional Analysis

Don't let me fool you. I did this tonight not out of a sense of duty but as an effort to distract myself from Syracuse University nearly blowing their basketball game against the University of South Florida. And don't get me started on the Sugar Bowl...damn Saban.

Anyhow, the Onion Ball staff put their thinking caps on and came up with a position by position breakdown of the both World Series teams:

CATCHER
Portland's Guy Olson was one of three Portland players to hit .300+ with more than 35 homers. Rookie Grant Gilbert is an up and comer with offensive potential and excellent pitch calling numbers. Boston's Luke Cox hit .305 in the regular season but has lower defensive numbers than his counterparts. EDGE: Portland

FIRST BASE
Portland's Al Mendoza is an an all-world, Hall of Fame player to crushed opponent pitching in his first National League season. Guillermo Rivera hit 22 homers in 83 games for Boston, mustering a .944 OPS. EDGE: Portland. Rivera is competent. Mendoza is the gold standard.

SECOND BASE
In an interesting management maneuver, the Beavers debuted rookie Wendell Clement in the playoffs. And, since rebedwell has made every right decision this season, it turned out well. with Clement hitting .385-3-5 in 26 playoff at-bats. Boston's Howard Lee made the most of his rookie season, hitting .281-34-100 with a .910 OPS. He was equally as impressive in the field, committing just two errors. EDGE: Boston. Age and experience beats youth and ambition.

THIRD BASE
Portland's hottest hand is Philip Thompson, who has 22 hits, nine homers and 16 RBI in 51 playoff at-bats. Translation: 1.442 OPS. Nice! Equally as hot is Greg Lankford. The Sox's leading hitter on the year, Lankford batted .339 with a .968 OPS during the regular season. The trend continued in the post-season -- .392-4-13 with a 1.269. EDGE: Push.

SHORTSTOP
Neither team places offensive emphasis on their shortstops. Boston goes with Bud Rollison and a .294 batting average in 398 at-bats. Portland's Carl McMurray hit .236 in 318 at-bats. EDGE: Push. Rollison's offense is offset by his 22 errors. McMurray's offense is washed out by his two errors.

OUTFIELD
Boston's Hector Pettite hit .329 and reached base at a .399 clip. His outfield mates Tony Trevino and Howie Durham were .250 hitters with less than spectacular extra-base hit numbers. Portland's Darren Thomas had an all-star season -- 302-40-86 with 23 steals. His colleagues in the outfield -- Ken Webster and Josias Veras -- each hit 20+ homers. Webster struck out 140 times. EDGE: Portland, by a hair, because chicks dig the long ball.

DESIGNATED HITTER
EDGE: Boston, as you would expect. It's easier to have a good DH when you plan for it in your everyday lineup. When in use, Jamie Yamamoto will do it for Boston. My guess is that catchers Olson and Gilbert plus Al Mendoza will fill the role here.

STARTING THREE
Boston: Willie Trajano-Groucho Hunter-Raymond Stone
Portland: Octavio Martin-Julian Santana-Preston Mays.

I have a sneaking suspicion that rebedwell is going to drop Larry Dickens (0-0, 4.50 in postseason) for Preston Mays (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 19 Ks in postseason). EDGE: Call me crazy. If he does that, Portland has the best staff. If he keeps Dickens, call it a push.

BULLPEN
Portland's Felipe Balboa has converted all six of his post-season save opportunities, but has a 4.63 ERA in the process. Danny Duran leads the Boston 'pen with a 1.69 ERA and 0.94 WHIP. EDGE: Push. Both relief staffs are sharp.

THE BLOG SAYS: It all hinges on the games in Boston. Portland has a pitcher's park and the higher-seeded Beavers will host the majority of contests this season. The Beaver Cleavers lost one game at home in the playoffs and during the LCS, Philadelphia could only muster six runs in three games at PGE Park. Boston scored over 100 more runs than the Beavers this season. And, they scored significantly more runs at Fenway than on the road this year. Both team were built very well and suited perfectly to their respective leagues. It will be a seven-game series and it will be Portland's to lose. EDGE: Portland in seven.

World Series Preview

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I had Philly playing Cleveland. What the hell do I know?

The Beavers and the Minutemen battle for the fourth Wailing Onion World Series Title. For the first time in the history of the world, neither Kansas City nor Cincinnati will be represented. Instead we have:

vs.


Meet the contenders

Boston Minutemen
RF Hector Pettitte
SS Bud Rolison
3B Greg Lankford
DH Jamie Yamamoto
C Luke Cox
2B Howard Lee
1B Guillermo Rivera
LF Tony Trevino
CF Howie Durham
*Expect Trevino to sit and Yamamoto to play LF or RF during games in Portland

Portland Beavers
CF Darren Thomas
1B Al Mendoza
3B Philip Thompson
C Grant Gilbert
LF Josias Veras
2B Wendell Clement
RF Ken Webster
SS Carl McMurray
*Guy Olson, Grant Gilbert and Al Mendoza will likely split time at DH when games are played in Boston

BALLPARK NOTES
Fenway Park 2, 4, 0, 1, 0
PGE Park -4, -3, -3, -4, -4
(1B, 2B, 3B, HR LF, HR RF)

The World Series

Before these douchebags get into the booth and ruin this World Series for us...oh wait, this isn't for real? You mean my wife is right that writing a blog about imaginary baseball players is a sign of complete and tragic lunacy? Dammit.

Since we're here anyways, let's look at this year's world series matchup, pitting the Kansas City Monarchs against the Atlanta Mad Dogs.

STARTING LINEUPS
Atlanta
The only weak link in this lineup is Ronn Swann. The first baseman followed up his underwhelming regular season with a dog of a post-season, where he has hit .132 with nine strikeouts in 38 at-bats. Harry Blanco has mounted a post-season MVP campaign, batting .400 with four homers and 21 RBI. He gets protected in the lineup by Roger Winston (.357-3-12) and Tomas Julio (.328-3-16). Winston, it is worth adding, has hit safely in the last six playoff games.

Kansas City
The Monarchs, while playing well, aren't as dominant as I had expected from the plate. Yes, Al Mendoza (.372-6-13) and Henry Cust (.293-6-16) have done their part, as has Hunter Pierre (.275-4-7). But, a trio of KC players have yet to warm up -- Philip Jacobs (.244), Terry Leonard (.243) and Shawn Sanders (.128).

EDGE: ATLANTA. My gut says KC, but you go with the hot hand.


STARTERS
Atlanta
I didn't expect much from Atlanta and they delivered. They're running a four-man rotation led by Lloyd Jeffries (3-1, 4.15 ERA). Unfortunately, he has walked more than he has struck out (11-8). Magglio Rodriguez is putting together the best post-season run with one win and a 3.86 ERA in his three starts. The other starters have been fairly unimpressive.

KC
Solid with a slight blemish -- McKay Hernandez. The Cy Young hopeful is 0-2 with a 7.24 ERA in his two starts. Benny Pujols and Midre Navarre are bringing the stuff and Ugueth Neruda ws effective in his one appearance.

EDGE: KC


BULLPEN
Atlanta
José Bonilla has saved four of five, but is 0-2 with a 6.75. Not as solid as you'd hope. Nick Fultz has been lights out in 12 appearances and 15.1 innings pitched. He was 3-0 with a 1.76 ERA, but holds a dominant 0.72 WHIP.

KC
Kevin Ong has locked up all five of his save opportunities in superstar fashion, holding opposing hitters to three hits and a 0.53 WHIP. Raf Jacquez (1-0, 1.50) and Tomas Ayala (1-0, 4.86) bridge the gap.

EDGE: KC

INTANGIBLES
Such a bullshit category.

HOW WILL IT END? Atlanta will give it a good run, especially at home, but pitching wins championships. Kansas City in six.